Knut stood with hands on hips, the bruise from Gull’s blow darkening on the fair skin of his face. “I pressed my fingers against his neck, there, where he has a mark.” He was making no effort to conceal the hostility in his eyes as he looked at Felix. Those eyes said plainly: You should be dead. “Not to kill. Why would I kill here on Inis Eala, such a good place? I wished only to scare him, to teach him a lesson. The girl ran in, got in the way, fell down. The man fell. Everything was mixed up, hard to see in the dark, shouting and commotion. When I tried to help, the girl thought I would attack her. She called me a murderer. Why would I do that, attack a helpless woman? In the confusion, the man was hurt. An accident.” When Kalev had rendered this, Knut added, “Gull hit me, and I saw no more. I am grateful that he did not hit me harder.” He favored Gull with what looked like a grin of genuine admiration.

“Thank you, Kalev,” Johnny said. “Ask Knut if he has anything further to say. I don’t want his opinion on Felix or Sibeal or anything about the situation, only facts.”

A brief interchange. “Knut says he has given his account, and he thanks you for your fairness. Not every leader would have allowed him to explain, given the circumstances.”

“Tell Knut he can sit down.”

Knut seated himself on the stool by the pallet. Kalev and Gareth remained standing, one on either side of him.

“We’re ready for Felix’s account, Sibeal,” Johnny said. “What is the best way to do this?”

Trust your instincts, said my inner voice. I moved to sit on the rug before the fire, not far from Felix’s bare feet. Breathing steadily, I blocked out my awareness of the others in the chamber, concentrating on the man beside me, and Gull seated next to him like a wise guardian. “Tell me what just happened, Felix,” I said, as if the three of us were exchanging tales before bedtime. I felt the warmth of the fire; I saw its light flicker strangely in Felix’s eyes, flame on dark water. “Start from the moment when you woke up, before I came in.”

“But this is not—”

I reached up and put my hand over his, on his knee. “I know the other part is more important for you,” I said, “but you must tell this part first. Remember that you are among friends.”

“I was sleeping. I heard—I heard—at first, the creak as Gull went out. I heard this without waking. Then suddenly the hand was on my neck, the fingers pressing—I knew it was Knut. Who else could it be?”

I asked the question before anyone else could. “How did you know who it was? Could you see him?”